UniBeast + MultiBeast is the easiest method to do a clean install of Mac OS X Lion or update any Snow Leopard system. The following guide requires no coding, terminal work, or Mac experience of any kind.

You Will Need

8GB or larger USB Drive

Install Mac OS X Lion Application

OR

Mac OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive

STEP 1: Purchase Mac OS X Lion

The operating system is not free. There are two ways to purchase your copy of Mac OS X Lion. The simplest way is to download the Application from the Mac App Store. Alternately, the OS X Lion USB Thumb is available online at Apple.com or any Apple Store retail location.

STEP 2: Create a Bootable USB Drive Using UniBeast

Take a deep breath and take your time- this is pretty simple, but it's easy to miss things if you rush. Follow each step to the letter.

1. Insert USB drive

2. Open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility

3. Highlight USB drive in left column

4. Click Partition tab

5. Click Current and choose 1 Partition

6. Click Options...

7. Choose Master Boot Record

8. Under Name: type USB (You can rename it later)

9. Under Format: choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

10. Click Apply then Partition

11. If using the Install Mac OS X Lion Application, it must be in /Applications folder.

12. If using the Mac OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive, make sure it's plugged in and mounted.

18. If using a laptop, choose Laptop Supportin addition to one of the above options.

19. Click Continue

20. Enter password and click Install

The process will take about 10-15 minutes, depending on system and drive speed, but will show hours. Do not unplug or stop during this time.

STEP 3: Install Mac OS X Lion

You're almost done! All you need to do is boot from the USB drive and install! Your hard drive should be set in BIOS to AHCI mode. For recommended BIOS settings and screenshots, check out iBoot + MultiBeast.

1. If you have a Gigabyte motherboard press F12 to choose boot device.

2. Choose USB-HDD

3. At Chimera Boot Screen, choose USB

You may have to type extra command line flags to reach the installer.

Asus Motherboard + NVIDIA Graphics - type PCIRootUID=0

Unsupported graphics - type GraphicsEnabler=No

Boot in Single-user mode - type -s

Boot in Verbose mode - type -v

Boot in Safe mode - type -x

4. When you arrive at the Installer, choose language.

If updating an existing Snow Leopard install, skip 5-14.

5. In the top menubar choose Utilities, and open Disk Utility

6. Highlight your target hard drive for the Lion installation in left column.

7. Click Partition tab

8. Click Current and choose 1 Partition

9. Click Options...

10. Choose GUID Partition Method

11. Under Name: type Lion (You can rename it later)

12. Under Format: choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

13. Click Apply then Partition

14. Close Disk Utility

15. When the installer asks you where to install, choose Lion, or your existing install.
16. Upon completion, restart system

The installation is complete, but the drive isn't bootable yet. Boot from the USB again, this time choosing Lion.

17. If you have a Gigabyte motherboard, press F12 to choose boot device.

18. Choose USB-HDD

19. At Chimera Boot Screen, choose your new Lion installation.

STEP 4: Post-Installation Using MultiBeastMultiBeast is an all-in-one post-installation tool designed to enable boot from hard drive, and install support for Audio, Network, and Graphics. In addition it includes System Utilities to repair permissions and a collection of drivers, bootloaders, config files and handy software.

1. Complete Mac OS X Lion setup.
2. When you arrive at desktop, open SafariNote, if Safari crashes, disable Web Content: Browser Plug-Ins under Preferences>Security.
3. Browse to tonymacx86.com and log in. If you don't have a user account, create one!
4. Go to tonymacx86.com/downloads to download the latest MultiBeast
5. Go to the DSDT Database to download your motherboard's DSDT
6. Open Downloads folder and move the .aml file to the Desktop
7. Open and run Multibeast's UserDSDT
8. Restart system

If your drive doesn't boot on its own, and you get an error referencing boot0, fix it using the methods listed here.

The above photo will provide general post-installation support for any recommended CustoMac build.

You may also use MultiBeast to install further drivers to enable ethernet, sound, graphics, etc... Be sure to read the documentation provided in MultiBeast Features.pdf about each option. Both UserDSDT and EasyBeast install the proper bootloader by default, so you'll not need to check that option.

Congratulations!

You now have a fully updated bootable version of Mac OS X Lion on your CustoMac! And a handy USB rescue drive to boot from in case things go pear-shaped. It's easy to get frustrated, but don't give up! If you get stuck, there are many users with similar hardware in the tonymacx86 Forum to provide support. Special thanks to everyone in the community, and our Mods for testing!

If you've had success using this guide, consider a contribution to help keep the sites going. We're constantly updating and tweaking our tools to help you.

In our ongoing quest to organize the volumes of information collected in the tonymacx86 Forum, we've opened a brand new area called Golden Threads. The articles collected here represent the very best of our community, and are a great source of information for those with and without experience.

Hope you enjoy! If you think there are any golden threads we missed, let us know in the comments. Special thanks to Complx for the logo!

For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

The original installation media for Mac OS X Snow Leopard was a 10.6 DVD. The DVD was only updated once to version 10.6.3. In order to provide more frequent updates to users, Apple is now slipstreaming the latest version of Lion directly into the download. Upon fresh installation, no updating is necessary!

If you purchased Lion from the App Store prior to October 12, 2011, you have either 10.7.0 or 10.7.1. To re-download and update your App to 10.7.2, follow this simple procedure.

The Installed button should change to Install, allowing you to re-download Lion. When the download finishes, the app will automatically open. The updated 10.7.2 Install Mac OS X Lion App can be found in the Applications folder.

If this doesn't work for you, try creating a new User account. You can delete it later.

1. Open System Preferences
2. Click on Accounts
3. Click Lock Icon
4. Click (+) to add a new User
5. Create a new Admin User
6. Log out, and log into new User
7. Proceed with steps above.

For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Today Apple released Mac OS X 10.7.2 the 2nd major update to Mac OS X Lion. This is the first time all Macs are running the same build of Mac OS X Lion, Build 11C74. It is an extremely important update, rolling in iCloud integration, and is recommended for all users. To update for any supported configuration, do not use Software Update. We recommend that all users update systems using the standalone Combo installer.

Apple has also launched its new iCloud service with many other updates. iTunes 10.5 was released yesterday with support for iTunes in the Cloud and over the air syncing. iOS 5 was released today for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. iPhoto was updated to version 9.2 with support for iCloud's Photostream service.

What we know about 10.7.2 so far...

iCloud features integrated into Mac OS X

11.2.0 Darwin kernel

Improved AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA Graphics Drivers

If you use customized or edited graphics kexts, most likely you'll have to make the edits again using the updated drivers as a base.

The update will replace your AppleHDA.kext.

If you use ALC8xxHDA for onboard audio, you will have to reinstall AppleHDA Rollback using MultiBeast before rebooting. If you're using VoodooHDA, you will not need to make any modifications.

HDMI Audio + Video can be enabled on Mac OS X Lion for most graphics card and motherboard configurations without much hassle using the replacement audio driver VoodooHDA. Using the supplied AppleHDA.kext for HDMI audio is something of a challenge, but provides numerous benefits including native Mac OS X support, high quality digital surround audio and overall system integration.

Since Lion's launch, tonymacx86.com mod toleda has been exploring and experimenting using different methods, and has come up with what we think is a pretty definitive series of guides on the subject. Please note that this is an advanced process and is highly dependent on your exact hardware configuration.

Enabling HDMI audio in Mac OS X 10.7.x is comprised of three parts and six guides: